After Alcatraz
by Beautiful Secrets
Summary: based on X3.Riven used to fight John, no matter what was said, because they just happened to get off on the wrong foot. Then John joined the Brotherhood, and she found herself abandoned. Now that Storm's in charge of the School, the cure has been taken ou
1. Chapter 1

_Riven looked over at John. _

"_Why do you have to fight us so much, John? All we're trying to do is prove to the rest of the world that mutants aren't ALL harmful!" she exclaimed, shaking her head as she moved down the hall towards class. John shoved her shoulder. _

"_**You're**__making the mutant population lookin' like a bunch of pussies! It's just that simple," he snaps, shoving her out of his way. She looked at him, slightly hurt, as she moved after him to get into the classroom._

"_If you don't like it here, why don't you just leave, huh? Jerk-ass…" she muttered, dropping into her seat……………_

_Riven sighed, looking around the plane. Logan, Storm, Nightcrawler, Jean, Bobby, Rogue, her, and John were on the X-jet, flying to Alkali Lake, to save the rest of the X-Men, Xavier, and the students who'd been captured. John sat right in front of Riven, Logan across from him, Rogue across from her, Bobby behind Rogue, Nightcrawler behind Riven, and Storm and Jean were flying the plane. She listened to them, but barely heard them as she watched them evade Army jets, and nearly crash into the forest. She was breathing heavily, and lifted her eyes, seeing Magneto below, with Mystique. She hesitated, and looked around as the plane was slowly brought to the ground. _

_She moved hesitantly into John's tent. _

"_Can we talk?" she asked, not wanting to pick a fight, but feeling it may happen. He shrugged._

"_Depends…if you're gonna yell, get the fuck out," he said, shrugging again. Riven stepped in, and kneeled down just inside his tent, taking a deep breath. _

"_I don't like fighting with you, John…I don't like fighting with anyone like me…" He shook his head, tugging out his lighter. _

"_We're not like you, Riv. None of us are like each other. The only thing similar is the X gene," he said, slightly snappy. She hesitated. _

"_That's all I meant, John. I don't wanna fight with you tonight. I just really do wanna talk with you. I know better than anybody here that I'm not like you guys…none of us are…I just don't wanna fight. You should know by now that it takes a **lot** of work and prodding to get to me to fight…" He lifted his head, and looked her over. She was slightly pale, had been since he met her, and was very frail looking. She wore baggy clothes to try to hide it, but when he, her, Bobby, and Rogue got placed in make-shift X-Men uniforms, made of slacks and a zip up jacket that has a white X in the upper part of the right side of the chest, her outfit was in her true size, and he finally noticed just how small she really was. She lifted her eyes to see him, and he sighed, as they glinted from blue to green and back in the faint light. _

"_Not much I can tell you, Riven. I just think that it's **really** stupid to be in this group trying to defend mutant rights, and then just end up making us all look like sissies," he said shrugging. Riven looked at him. _

"_We didn't look like pussies after Ellis Island," she pointed out, faintly smiling. "That was a good story to hear…" John chuckled, remembering that it was all anyone talked about for days and days. _

"_That was a rarity…Riv, you should go to bed…you look like you haven't slept in weeks…" She bit her lip, but stood, moving out of the tent. _

"_That's because I haven't…" she mumbled, walking off towards the plane. John looked at her, confused, as she climbed the steps of the jet and curled up in one of the seats………………………_

_She, Bobby, Rogue, and John were ordered to stay on the plane, and Riven covered her ears with her shaky hands, looking at the floor of the plane._

"_Bobby?" she asked. He looked over._

"_What's up?"_

"_Could you talk a little softer? My head hurts…if it gets any worse, we'll be having a big problem…" Bobby pushed his lips together, and whispered softly to Rogue, so Riven's pain would pass. After a few moments, she heard John stand up, and as she lifted her eyes, she saw that Bobby and Rogue were standing too._

"_Where are you goin?" John moved over, hitting the button for the stairs._

"_I'm sick of this kids' table shit, I'm goin' out there," he answered, tugging on his X-jacket as he made his way over._

"_John, they told us to stay here," Rogue said, moving up beside Bobby as Riven stood, too. John stopped, looking at them over his shoulder._

"_You always do as you're told?" he asked, raising an eyebrow, and jogging down the steps. Riven followed him, not even looking back, and jogged up behind him. _

"_John, you shouldn't leave the plane…if something happens…" He looked at her. _

"_What's gonna happen, Riven? Huh? You gonna try to kill me?" he asked, pushing her shoulder. _

"_John, stop picking fights with me! I just wanna be your friend!" she snapped, rubbing her shoulder gently. They argued as they walked, until Riven gasped, clutching her head as she fell to her knees. John looked back. _

"_Riv? What're you do-" He was on the ground, clutching his head, covering his ears, as pain shot thru his body. Riven writhed on the ground, her eyes rolling back in her head, as she got the same feeling, knowing that it wasn't just them, it was all over the world, for all mutants around. By the time the pain went away, Riven could barely move. John struggled to get up, as she laid on the ground, moaning and twitching slightly. Not noticing, he continued up the hill, and stood on the edge of the cliff, looking down as the helicopter was started up by Magneto and Mystique. They noticed him, and he noticed them, just looking at them carefully. Riven finally managed to climb off the ground, and when she did, she watched John look down at her from the helicopter as they took off. Her heart broke, as she watched him leave, and she kneeled in the snow, struggling to push the pain out of her heart and mind…………_

Riven sat up a little bit, looking around her. She took a deep breath, and closed her eyes again, trying to remember when and where she was. After a moment, she did remember. Xavier and Scott were dead, and John, aka Pyro, was still a member of Magneto's brotherhood. Jean was back, but no longer herself. She was known as Phoenix, a class 5 mutant that was the most powerful of any ever known. She was sitting on the jet with Bobby, Kittie, Logan, Storm, Beast aka, Dr Hank McCoy, and Colossus, heading to Alcatraz Island. It had been converted to the center for Worthington Labs, who were continuing their work on creating the cure for the Mutant X gene. Riven had thought about what she would do if she could be cured of her mutations, but she didn't know. Riven's abilities were limited, but strong. She could hear anything and everything, said and unsaid, from the words written on paper if she couldn't see them, to the words muttered in the minds of passing people, to the phrases and sayings mouthed behind her back when she was trying to be "normal." Along with that, she could sense pain and suffering within a five mile radius, for any human and mutant. But the only thing she had that was extremely taxing on her to hide was that when she walked, she didn't touch the ground-she hovered just about 10 inches above it, and always wore a long coat or skirt to try and hide it from everyone. It hardly ever worked, and it took nearly all of her strength to move her feet to the Earth.

Before too long, as the sun faded and the moon rose in the blackened sky, the jet went undercover and came to a landing on the roof of Worthington Laboratories. Riven, as well as everyone else on board, were guised in their X-Men uniforms, and they ran off the plane, to try and stop Magneto's Brotherhood from completing their task of killing the young mutant boy who was being used as the source of "the cure." She hopped off the plane, and everyone went on a fighting spree, with Storm attacking a tattooed girl who could move about quite quickly, too quick for the naked eye and everyone else just picking one mutant after another to take them out of the war. Riven did quite a good job, if she did say so herself, at fending off the mutants, seeing as the Army men who were designated to stand about the lab with plastic guns containing needles filled with "the cure" were defenseless: one of Magneto's army had destroyed all the weapons. As the Brotherhood dwindled down to Magneto, Jean, and only a few others, one of whom Riven knew but couldn't place, Kittie hurried inside, away from the one they called Juggernaut, to resuce the young boy. Logan, Storm, Bobby, Riven, and Colossus hunkered down behind some wreckage, as Magneto threw cars into the air, and his right hand man toasted them, causing the gas tank to explode. Riven crouched a little, but looked out, unsure at first, and then amazed. Magneto's new right hand man was John. She bit her lip, as they dodge flying debris, and Logan glanced over at Bobby.

"Hey, kid…feel like fightin' an old friend?" he asked, nodding towards John. Bobby smirked, and moved out, tugging off his gloves. Magneto nodded to John, and he stopped lighting the cars, moving out to face Bobby. Logan looked at Colossus, who scooted up beside them, as John and Bobby went head to head, ice against fire, for a few moments. At first John was overpowering, then Bobby, and then John, and he backed Bobby into the ground, enveloping him in fire.

"John! Stop it!" Riven cried, climbing over the debris. Storm made a grab for her, but missed, crying out for her to stop. John glanced at her, as Bobby became encased in ice-a living, breathing ice sculpture, made out like him, and stood.

"You should've stayed in school," he said, head-butting John and knocking him to the ground.

"Bobby!" she cried, skidding to a halt at John's head and looking down at him. He was unconcious. Riven looked up as Colossus chucked Logan out from behind their hiding place, and looked over as Magneto caught him and skidded him across the ground, smirking.

"You never learn, do you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Logan looked up, struggling to breath.

"Actually………I do…" Beast leapt up from the mist behind Magneto, and cried out in effort as he slammed four cure needles into his chest, knocking him to the ground.

Before Riven knew what was happening, Jean was transforming into her Pheonix self, and an extremely powerful, and extremely deadly, burst of energy, was coming from her, killing off one Army man after another. Storm rushed over.

"Riven, hurry! We have to get out of here!"

"I'm not letting him stay here," she said, struggling to gather up John and hurry off with him. Storm helped, and they hurried over the bridge, finally arriving a safe distance away, leaving Logan behind to try and win Jean back.

Riven shuffled along with the other X-Men, while Beast carried Logan in his arms. He had to kill Jean, in order to save her, and was out of energy, so Beast offered to carry him. Colossus, Bobby, Kitty, and Jimmy, aka Leech, the young man they were using as a "cure", were all walking together near Beast, with Storm on Beast's other side to keep her eye on Logan. Riven, however, was shuffling her feet as she walked along behind them. She suddenly stopped, her eyes wide, and turned her head slightly to look back at Alcatraz Island, which sat in ruins behind them, on the opposite side of the Golden Gate Bridge. After a minute, she felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned to see Colossus beside her.

"Somethin up?" he asked.

"I think John's still alive…would you come back there with me? I can't just leave him there…please?" she begged slightly. He looked back, and moved up to Storm, telling her where he and Riven were going, and took Riven's hand, moving back across the bridge and searching through the wreckage to find John. Colossus finally lifted up the remains of the one of the tanks, and looked around.

"Riven! Found him!" She ran over, and kneeled beside his bruised and bloody body, picking up one of his hands and feeling for a pulse.

"He is alive…pick him up, please…" He leaned down, picking up the unconcious man, and followed Riven back to the other X-Men, walking back up with Kitty and Bobby as they moved. Riven knew Bobby wasn't pleased, but she just couldn't look at him.

They walked quite a while before Angel and Jubilee pulled up in Storm's SUV. They all climbed into the vehicle, Logan still in Beast's lap, and John still in Colossus'. Throughout the entire ride, when Riven caught his eye, she thanked him silently for helping her out, and then looked back at her hands, or out the window. Angel finally moved from his seat and traded spots with Kitty, so she could be near Bobby and Colossus, and he could be by Riven.

"How're you doin?" he asked softly. Riven turned her head, looking up at him, and smiled, shrugging.

"I've been better, but I'm okay. I just want to go back to the mansion, go say goodnight to the Professor, and go to bed. Thanks for getting Jubilee and coming out here to get us." Angel smiled down at her, and put an arm around her shoulder.

"Don't worry about it…" he said, and rested her head on his shoulder. "Get some rest, I'll wake you when we get there…"

"Okay……" No sooner had Riven closed her eyes than she fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Riven opened her eyes, tired of dreaming of the War, and of what happened to the Professor, Scott, and Jean, and climbed out of her bed as the moon climbed higher in the sky. She moved down the steps, having somewhat taken over as the Doctor in the school. Riven had taken extra time off her schedule so Jean could teach her the workings of the medicine, and of what it took to be a doctor. Although Riven was not a legal, liscensed doctor, she was partially in charge of the lab in the basement of the school. If someone came in with a problem she couldn't handle, she made sure that they got the help they needed, whether she sent them to the hospital, or she called Dr McCoy and had him help the student.

Jogging into the elevator, and crouching as it lowered to the basement, she rubbed her eyes, and moved down the hall in her night shorts and tank top. John was still laying on the table, eyes closed, breathing rhythmically in the silence, which was broken only by the beeping of his heart monitor. Reaching down, she gently ran a finger over his hair, and smiled softly, biting her lip as she leaned down and kissed his forehead.

"It's so good to know you're still around…" she whispered, and rested her forehead on his shoulder for a second before checking him over, and heading back upstairs. Angel came in from the yard, and stumbled, trying not to run her down.

"Hey, girlie…" She smiled.

"Hey, Angel…how're you doin?" she asked, leaning over and hugging him gently.

"I'm doin' okay…how're you? How's Pyro?" he asked, running a hand over the top of his head. Riven sighed, and shrugged.

"Still unconcious. I hope he wakes up sometime soon…" she said, and gave him a gentle hug, looking at his wings. "How're these feeling?" she asked.

"Fine…They're sore when I have to tie them to me when I sleep, but otherwise their fine," he said, moving into the hall. "I'm gonna go hop in the shower, and then I'm probably gonna go for a fly," he said, and walked away. Riven smiled, and walked passed the main doors, stopping and looking over.

"Can I help you?" she asked. The unfamiliar girl turned, and bit her lip.

"I…well, I certainly hope so…I'm Leigh. And…I heard that…I could come here to be safe…" Riven faintly smiled.

"Safe from those who fear you?" she asked. Leigh nodded, tugging at the black Adidas cap on her head. Riven nodded. "I'm Riven…and this is Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Come on, let me show you to our headmistress," Riven said, finding it still so strange. She continually wanted to say "to the Professor," but she knew she couldn't anymore. She led Leigh down the hall a little ways, and opened up an office door, peeking in at Storm across the room. "Storm?" She lifted her head, and smiled.

"Hello, Riven…Come on in."

"Storm, this is Leigh…I think she'd like to talk to you about residing here," she said, leading Leigh inside and just nodding her head a little. Smiling a little more, Storm stood.

"Welcome, Leigh. I'm Storm…" Leigh nodded, a small smile on her lips, as she reached out and shook her hand.

"Hi…so…is this where I can stay?" Storm let the smile on her lips grow more, as she nodded, and reached into her desk, pulling out a few slips of paper and a couple books, setting them on the desk.

"You may stay here as long as you would like…Riven, if you wouldn't mind, run this over to Logan, and then come back so you can show Leigh around the school…" she stated, handing Riven a slip of paper with some words scrawled on it. Riven agreed to it, walking back out of the room and down the hallway. Leigh cleared her throat.

"Will, um, I be living here in the school, or will I have to find a place?" Storm immediately shook her head.

"No worries, Leigh, we have housing right here in the building. When Riven gets back, she can show you to her room. There's a spare bed in there. And let's see…I'll be the history and english teacher, no worries there. Hank will be the Physics and Government teacher; Logan is the self-defense teacher, as well as the math teacher. Since three of our teachers, including the Professor, have passed, we all must double up on classes until other teachers can be hired," Storm stated, "so after a few days, you might become tired of us." She laughed, making it a joke, so Leigh laughed as well.

Riven tapped on Logan's door, and he looked up, scratching his head.

"C'mon in, Riv…" She walked over, handing him the slip of paper.

"We have a new girl coming in…I get to show her around when I go back to the office," she said, and looked around the room. Bobby and Kitty sat along one wall, Rogue on Bobby's other side. Riven recalled that Rogue had run off, but she didn't know where she'd gone, or when she'd returned. She made a note in her mind to catch her and ask her later, as Logan nodded, and went back to his class as Riven walked out, gently waving to the girls. They both waved back, but it was then that Riven noticed Rogue's bare hand clasped in Bobby's, and she knew where Rogue had gone. Hesitating, she moved back to Storm's office, and stepped beside Leigh.

"Alright, Riven, thank you. You may show Leigh around. I said she may take a room with you, if that's alright…" Riven gave a soft smile, and nodded.

"That's just fine. Come on, I'll show you around…" she said, helping Leigh off the chair and taking her down the hall. "If you need anything, Leigh, don't hesitate to ask me. I've been here a few years, I know my way around, I know the students, the teachers, the grounds, and the works. Anything you need, you can always ask…" She pushed open the bedroom door, and walked over, patting the only empty bed, which was right next to Riven's. "This will be your bed," she said.

"Looks cozy…Thank you…I do have one question…" she said, setting her bag on the bed and following Riven out the door. Riven glanced at her.

"Shoot."

"Any cute guys here?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. Riven squeezed her lips together, smiling and trying not to laugh, before both girls burst into giggles.

"Actually, there are. There's David, aka Colossus. I'll point him out when I see him. And Angel, but he's in his room right now. Logan's not bad to look at, and neither is Bobby...but he's taken. Come on." Riven led Leigh around, the two girls becoming fast friends, as Riven introduced her to David, Bobby, and Logan, once his class had let out. She paused when she felt a pair of hands on her shoulders.

"Boo."

"Heya, Angel…Just the one I was lookin' for. This is Leigh, she's new here," Riven said, patting Leigh's shoulder. Leigh hesitated, and smiled, reaching out to shake Angel's hand.

"Nice to meet you," she said. Angel smiled a soft, wistful-like smile, and nodded.

"Nice to meet you, too…I'm Angel." Riven looked between them, and thought, _I found her cute guy_, a smile on her lips. Angel hesitated, and blinked a few times, smiling again. "I'm gonna, uh, go for a walk…or a fly, depends on how I feel…I'll…see you guys later," he said, watching Leigh as he walked out the door. Leigh blushed, and looked down, then back up at Riven, who just smiled and led her into the kitchen.

"I think he likes you…" Riven said, handing her a soda from the fridge. Leigh blushed more, and shook her head.

"No…"

"Yeah. Angel's a sweetie, and sometimes he's hard to decipher, but I'm pretty good at it," she said, smiling softly as she opened a bottle of her own. Leigh just blushed as she down some of the soda.

_Riven looked around her, scared out of her wits, as the Army fought against the Brotherhood, as Jean stood still and silent on their side, while her's was trying to defend Worthington Lab's and save the source of the "cure." She watched as Kittie raced into the building, through the walls, to find Jimmy and keep him from harm. Suddenly, things changed. Everyone had evacuated Alcatraz Island, and Logan was trying to convince Jean to come back so he could save her. Riven was terrified: she was still on the Island, within distance of Jean's power. She moved, quickly, to try and get away, and found that her feet weighed a ton a piece. Struggling to drag herself off the Island, Riven looked around, and saw everyone running from the Island still, some getting caught and shredded in an instant. Her feet finally let loose, and she was sent flying onto the bridge, turning around to see John still laying in the debris. Her eyes wide, she pushed herself onto her feet, and caught a glimpse of Logan stabbing Jean, causing all the power she was emitting to cease, and for everything to fall to the ground. John didn't move. Riven hesitated, and raced over to him, dodging the falling debris._

"_John! Wake up!" she cried, shaking his shoulder. He didn't move. She cried a little as she struggled to push him out of the way as a car fell, landing where he had been as they rolled a little out of the way. She laid on him, taking a deep breath, and as she sat up to shake him again, his hand clasped her throat, his eyes open wide. She coughed, looking at him in surprise. "John…" she squeezed. "What're you doin?" He raised his other hand, snapping his fingers to create a flame, and brought it close to her head. "John…please don't….please…" she begged him softly. He stood up with her, and held the flame beneath her hair._

"_This will teach you to help the enemy," he growled, shoving the flame into her face, and bringing it down to her stomach, torching her as they stood…_

Riven sat up, eyes wide, as she sat, half laying down, on the couch in the living room. The TV was on, but it was nothing but static, so she turned it off, trying to calm herself down, as she headed down the hall, looking around her very carefully, for any sign of something being wrong. Not finding anything, she finally just went into her bedroom, and laid down, tugging the blankets up to her shoulders, and staring at the wall.

Riven moved around restlessly on her bed that night, unable to fall back to sleep. The room was coated in darkness, and there wasn't a sound in the room save for Riven's movements. Finally, she pushed the blankets to the foot of the bed and stood up in her plaid pajama bottoms and gray spaghetti strap top. Rubbing her hands over her hair, she slipped into her Dr. Scholl's slide on shoes, and shuffled down the hall into the elevator. She leaned against the wall of the elevator, adjusting to the bright light, and moved down the hall in the basement towards the lab, to check on John. As she approached the room, however, she heard some sounds that were neither breathing nor a heart monitor. Confused, she stepped into to see him sitting up, looking around and tapping his fingers on the metal table.

"John?"


End file.
